RSS
The most anticipated Xbox 360 title of the year is also one of the best games of the year.
November 7, 2006 | 2:34 PM PSTGears of War has long held the somewhat dubious honor of being the game that every Xbox 360 owner must buy to hold themselves over until the release of Halo 3. Regardless of how impressive each subsequent gameplay demonstration was or the amount of hype that the game has built up over time, it’s always seemed as though the gaming community had already come to the decision that Gears of War was nothing but a stop-gap and destined to be cast aside when the final entry in Bungie’s console-selling and culture-shifting franchise finally hit the streets. While it’s obviously impossible to predict the future, 360 fans might want to start preparing themselves for the once-unthinkable: come the end of next year and beyond, there is a damn good chance that Halo 3 may not be the best game on the Xbox 360. Gears of War is no stop-gap title; it has everything required to stand the test of time and reign supreme as the platform’s premier killer app, right up to the onset of the next, next generation. Drop-dead gorgeous, amazingly visceral, and remarkably polished in all but the most minor facets of its design, the game never ceases to thrill or amaze. Gears of War is a masterpiece.
Story
Taking place over the course of a single night, Gears of War follows the exploits of disgraced soldier Marcus Fenix as he contributes to the fight to save the population of the planet Sera from the Locust Horde. Once a serene and peaceful planet, Sera became a waste-land following the events of Emergence Day, when the planet’s crust broke open and the legions of the Locust Horde were unleashed onto the populace, seemingly determined to kill every living thing. The death-toll for the first day alone was catastrophic, and as the body count massed, the human Coalition of Governments found themselves unable to stem the tide of battle.
Marcus Fenix abandoned his unit to seek out his father, a decision that got him branded as a traitor and tossed in prison. In the 14 years since, the COG has continued to lose ground against the Locust and even resorted to turning their satellite weaponry on their own cities in efforts of wiping out the enemy. Now, in one last desperate attempt to turn the tide, the COG is rounding up every capable soldier for a tactical operation deep in the heart of Locust territory. They’re so desperate for manpower, even traitors are fair game. Players join the action as Fenix’s old friend Dom breaks him out of prison, and from there it’s a straight shot through hell to the final objective. That’s it. Those under the impression that Epic was saving the details of the plot in the same manner they were the gameplay will be sorely disappointed to find out that everything they’ve been told about the story is really all there is to tell, save for a few details thrown into the mix toward the end of the game and left for the inevitable sequel to resolve.
The storyline is easily the weakest element of Gears of War, a somewhat ironic turn of events given the numerous times that Cliff Bleszinski, the game’s lead designer has publicly criticized the games industry for failing to provide gamers with compelling narratives. The writers obviously put some thought and effort into infusing the story with underlying meaning and relevancy through the use of some obvious metaphor, visual and otherwise, but the storyline doesn’t have enough meat to support that aim, and as a result, any thoughtful ideas being put forward feel incredibly forced.
The tone of the game feels very inconsistent – at times it seems as though a concerted effort is being put forth to get a serious message across, while at other times it seems as though all pretense of intelligence has been abandoned and the focus is squarely on delivering a thrilling ride. Action-laden stories are more than capable of delivering an important message, but the serious moments don’t flow into and out of the tension-filled action that comprises the majority of Gears of War well enough for them to feel natural. As it stands, the storyline fails on both fronts – it’s not focused or tightly-paced enough to stand with the best of scripts in the action genre, and it fails to deliver any form of memorable drama or elevated commentary. Despite the fact that the writers apparently couldn’t decide how they wanted the game to play out, they did a fine job of providing a context for the combat, and really, that’s all that was needed.
Gameplay
Just in case it hasn’t been beaten into the head of every last current and potential Xbox 360 owner yet, the point bears repeating – Gears of War is based around ‘stop-n-pop’ gameplay. Whereas rule one in most shooters is generally ‘always keep moving,’ Gears of War forces players to slow down in order to take their shots by removing the targeting reticule and severely reducing weapon accuracy while the player is on the move. A player attempting to shoot while running through an open area is ridiculously easy prey. Obviously, stopping dead in the middle of the open in order to hone in on the target isn’t particularly adaptive behavior for a combat zone either, so players will quickly find that the best means of playing the game is to maneuver between pieces of cover, only pausing to shoot from a protected position. Gears of War isn’t as fast as the run-n-gun fare typical of the action genre, but it’s not as methodical as a straight up tactical shooter like Ghost Recon either. The screen is almost always filled with tons of action and numerous enemies, and death can come quickly from almost any direction.
Taking cover is incredibly intuitive and quickly becomes almost instinctual. Pressing the A button while aiming at seemingly any solid object will cause the player to cover behind it. From a covered position, pressing A will perform one of several actions depending on where the player is facing, including hopping over crouch-level cover, performing a SWAT-turn to another piece of cover close by, or ‘spinning off’ to resume moving forward. The game constantly alerts players to the available actions via prompts at the bottom of the screen that provide the proper button input and a diagram of the maneuver. Eventually players will become so proficient at utilizing the various maneuvers, that they’ll be able to navigate large areas by hopping, sprinting, diving and spinning from piece of cover to the next in one fluid motion.
Story
Taking place over the course of a single night, Gears of War follows the exploits of disgraced soldier Marcus Fenix as he contributes to the fight to save the population of the planet Sera from the Locust Horde. Once a serene and peaceful planet, Sera became a waste-land following the events of Emergence Day, when the planet’s crust broke open and the legions of the Locust Horde were unleashed onto the populace, seemingly determined to kill every living thing. The death-toll for the first day alone was catastrophic, and as the body count massed, the human Coalition of Governments found themselves unable to stem the tide of battle.
Marcus Fenix abandoned his unit to seek out his father, a decision that got him branded as a traitor and tossed in prison. In the 14 years since, the COG has continued to lose ground against the Locust and even resorted to turning their satellite weaponry on their own cities in efforts of wiping out the enemy. Now, in one last desperate attempt to turn the tide, the COG is rounding up every capable soldier for a tactical operation deep in the heart of Locust territory. They’re so desperate for manpower, even traitors are fair game. Players join the action as Fenix’s old friend Dom breaks him out of prison, and from there it’s a straight shot through hell to the final objective. That’s it. Those under the impression that Epic was saving the details of the plot in the same manner they were the gameplay will be sorely disappointed to find out that everything they’ve been told about the story is really all there is to tell, save for a few details thrown into the mix toward the end of the game and left for the inevitable sequel to resolve.
The storyline is easily the weakest element of Gears of War, a somewhat ironic turn of events given the numerous times that Cliff Bleszinski, the game’s lead designer has publicly criticized the games industry for failing to provide gamers with compelling narratives. The writers obviously put some thought and effort into infusing the story with underlying meaning and relevancy through the use of some obvious metaphor, visual and otherwise, but the storyline doesn’t have enough meat to support that aim, and as a result, any thoughtful ideas being put forward feel incredibly forced.
The tone of the game feels very inconsistent – at times it seems as though a concerted effort is being put forth to get a serious message across, while at other times it seems as though all pretense of intelligence has been abandoned and the focus is squarely on delivering a thrilling ride. Action-laden stories are more than capable of delivering an important message, but the serious moments don’t flow into and out of the tension-filled action that comprises the majority of Gears of War well enough for them to feel natural. As it stands, the storyline fails on both fronts – it’s not focused or tightly-paced enough to stand with the best of scripts in the action genre, and it fails to deliver any form of memorable drama or elevated commentary. Despite the fact that the writers apparently couldn’t decide how they wanted the game to play out, they did a fine job of providing a context for the combat, and really, that’s all that was needed.
Gameplay
Just in case it hasn’t been beaten into the head of every last current and potential Xbox 360 owner yet, the point bears repeating – Gears of War is based around ‘stop-n-pop’ gameplay. Whereas rule one in most shooters is generally ‘always keep moving,’ Gears of War forces players to slow down in order to take their shots by removing the targeting reticule and severely reducing weapon accuracy while the player is on the move. A player attempting to shoot while running through an open area is ridiculously easy prey. Obviously, stopping dead in the middle of the open in order to hone in on the target isn’t particularly adaptive behavior for a combat zone either, so players will quickly find that the best means of playing the game is to maneuver between pieces of cover, only pausing to shoot from a protected position. Gears of War isn’t as fast as the run-n-gun fare typical of the action genre, but it’s not as methodical as a straight up tactical shooter like Ghost Recon either. The screen is almost always filled with tons of action and numerous enemies, and death can come quickly from almost any direction.
Taking cover is incredibly intuitive and quickly becomes almost instinctual. Pressing the A button while aiming at seemingly any solid object will cause the player to cover behind it. From a covered position, pressing A will perform one of several actions depending on where the player is facing, including hopping over crouch-level cover, performing a SWAT-turn to another piece of cover close by, or ‘spinning off’ to resume moving forward. The game constantly alerts players to the available actions via prompts at the bottom of the screen that provide the proper button input and a diagram of the maneuver. Eventually players will become so proficient at utilizing the various maneuvers, that they’ll be able to navigate large areas by hopping, sprinting, diving and spinning from piece of cover to the next in one fluid motion.
< previous | page 1 of 4 | next >
November 20, 2009
